But... 5 out of 10,000 is NOT a high risk of bleeding. Also, I read a study that said that if someone takes aspirin daily for 5 (?) years and haven't had any bleeding that the risk is lower that they will have bleeding in the future.

Also... the potential warding off of cancer caused, in part, by inflammation is a benefit that I'm not sure I want to do away with.

There is a drug company that is developing a super-aspirin that is 250 times as strong to help fight cancer.... AND ... it doesn't cause bleeding!!! I think I read the article about it on Gizmag.com

They said in a study of 10K people, 7 had heart attacks while 5 of those 7 also had bleeding issues. That's what I heard.

bluey2223 saidThey said in a study of 10K people, 7 had heart attacks while 5 of those 7 also had bleeding issues. That's what I heard.

Not five of those seven. Simply that 7 out of a random 10k would be protected from heart attack while 5 of of a random 10k would have bleeding issues. But of 10k people who have had heart attacks, aspirin would help 250 of them.

So the thinking by this is that if you've had a heart, then taking aspirin might be worth the risk of bleeding but if you haven't than it isn't worth the risk.

I had been taking daily baby aspirin when the thinking was that it could help prevent future dementia (I'm reading contradicting articles about it now) but stopped the regiment when I noticed an abundance of bleeding just from scratching mosquito bites. I'm not a big pill taker though I do my supplements. But now also instead of daily aspirin, when I've a headache or I'm stressed I'll take the aspirin that I might have not bothered with otherwise, thinking that makes up for not taking it daily.

bluey2223 saidThey said in a study of 10K people, 7 had heart attacks while 5 of those 7 also had bleeding issues. That's what I heard.

Not five of those seven. Simply that 7 out of a random 10k would be protected from heart attack while 5 of of a random 10k would have bleeding issues. But of 10k people who have had heart attacks, aspirin would help 250 of them.

So the thinking by this is that if you've had a heart, then taking aspirin might be worth the risk of bleeding but if you haven't than it isn't worth the risk.

I had been taking daily baby aspirin when the thinking was that it could help prevent future dementia (I'm reading contradicting articles about it now) but stopped the regiment when I noticed an abundance of bleeding just from scratching mosquito bites. I'm not a big pill taker though I do my supplements. But now also instead of daily aspirin, when I've a headache or I'm stressed I'll take the aspirin that I might have not bothered with otherwise, thinking that makes up for not taking it daily.

Often seems the more we know, the more we don't know.

Touche. I watched it once so probably missed that.

If you're worried about dementia, I'd put my money into learning a new skill, trying new things, challenging your mind. I doubt any pill will do that. If only life were so easy. Also as of this week, fish oil isn't as effective as thought (but not enough evidence for me to stop taking it, as I think it is a cheap supplement compared to buying real fish).

bluey2223 saidThey said in a study of 10K people, 7 had heart attacks while 5 of those 7 also had bleeding issues. That's what I heard.

Not five of those seven. Simply that 7 out of a random 10k would be protected from heart attack while 5 of of a random 10k would have bleeding issues. But of 10k people who have had heart attacks, aspirin would help 250 of them.

So the thinking by this is that if you've had a heart, then taking aspirin might be worth the risk of bleeding but if you haven't than it isn't worth the risk.

I had been taking daily baby aspirin when the thinking was that it could help prevent future dementia (I'm reading contradicting articles about it now) but stopped the regiment when I noticed an abundance of bleeding just from scratching mosquito bites. I'm not a big pill taker though I do my supplements. But now also instead of daily aspirin, when I've a headache or I'm stressed I'll take the aspirin that I might have not bothered with otherwise, thinking that makes up for not taking it daily.

Often seems the more we know, the more we don't know.

Touche. I watched it once so probably missed that.

If you're worried about dementia, I'd put my money into learning a new skill, trying new things, challenging your mind. I doubt any pill will do that. If only life were so easy. Also as of this week, fish oil isn't as effective as thought (but not enough evidence for me to stop taking it, as I think it is a cheap supplement compared to buying real fish).

Part of disguising dementia is paying attention the first time. I did go back to confirm what I thought I'd heard, however, after reading your post.

Though I do supplement with stuff supposedly good for the heart & brain (particularly omega3, cla tonalin & alpha lipoic) I understand all too well that the science has only come so far, as my mom had dosed per recommendations with vitamin E only for us to later learn when the science changed that such high dosing might have exacerbated her disease.

But we're kind of at the mercy of only being able to go with what you think you know at the time. So even though in my 30s I had given up all caffeinated products, in about 2006 coffee was shown to be beneficial in holding off Alzheimer's--its mechanism not yet understood--so I started drinking coffee again. That finding has been recently replicated. Lucky me. Mom was not a coffee drinker. So I try to do all the good things she did but also more of what we think we've learned since.

Even though she was unable to prevent dementia, I do believe her efforts helped her endure life with it in a very high functioning way as she maintained much of her personality and even important memories & recognition of family & friends through to the end. Though, on the other hand, I don't know if that might also have prolonged her living with the disease. We don't have a lot of good answers for this yet.

I think your advice of challenging the mind is excellent, thank you for that, and I already do so. I'm very much into brain plasticity and I'm a life long lucid dreamer who has been active in exploring and expanding consciousness in a systematic way for decades and even haphazardly as a child.

In doing so, progression requires breaking through barriers of accepted ways of thinking at the conscious level and includes engaging the unconscious mind consciously. So between that, and all the conscious thinking I do in my sleep, I'm hoping my brain has taken the hint and developed a few extra dendrites to protect itself in later life.

I relayed all that to a professor during an aging studies class, nice guy, very involved in research, who just listened in silence but had nothing to add except to say that he didn't know. I'd imagine it a fairly cutting edge idea as a defense against dementia, if it would be useful at all. But really it would fall in line with meditative type thinking, only more intense. I would love to see science study this aspect of that issue. Meanwhile, I'll have to be satisfied with living my life as my own little experiment, though an out of controlled one. Such is life.

I've also been changing up my daily life with brain plasticity in mind. I was planning a life of travel until my bud died, thinking, besides of all the fun we'd have had, that living in lots of different countries would keep the brain in learning mode, but I didn't care for travel as a single person so instead I've moved to a new city, bought two dilapitated houses to rehab with newly acquired skills and am back to school for a new career in an entirely new to me field. This will be my third career.

After dealing so closely for so long with Alzheimer's I was imagining seeing the symptoms of it in myself. But putting myself back to school and seeing how well I've been doing (str8 A's so far--obviously, I've no problem with essays, they just sort of roll right out), I believe I'm seeing something to this plasticity, though of course I won't know for certain the results for another 10-20 years. Might as well keep life interesting in the meantime.